Michael McDermott was assessing his chances to repeat as Philadelphia Amateur champion as the 114th edition of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s biggest event approached last week.

McDermott thought a long course like White Manor Country Club’s 7,055-yard layout might work in his favor, as it had a year earlier when McDermott won his second Philadelphia Amateur title at Aronimink G.C., one of the courses he calls home.

When it came to the second course being utilized for qualifying, though, Overbrook G.C., McDermott wasn’t nearly as confident. It is a course, he said, that he has never played particularly well. But he did have one thing going for him at Overbrook.

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“The good thing is, I’m paired with Ray Thompson and I’ll just pay attention to where he goes and I’ll be fine,” McDermott said.

Jeff Osberg, one of the top mid-amateur players in the Philadelphia area, will take on former Haverford School standout Nelson Hargrove for the Philly Am title in a scheduled 36-hole final Saturday, but for much of the week, the real story of this event was none other than Thompson.

He is 62 years old and as unassuming a good golfer as you could find. He won this thing 42 years ago following his sophomore season at Florida St. He was the runnerup at the 1969 PIAA Tournament, his senior year at Marple Newtown.

Yet there he was this week, walking 36 holes Monday, 35 holes Tuesday and finally 32 holes Wednesday before Osberg finally stopped him. He was competing against kids less than half his age, and if you were looking for a complaint about the tortuous format GAP uses to identify its champion, you weren’t going to hear it from Thompson.

He was having fun competing at the game he loves. He got to play hooky from his job at Janney, Montgomery, Scott in Media for a couple of days and battle the hills at White Manor, the heat and humidity, the top-flight competition.

“I probably have only entered this maybe 15 times since I won,” Thompson said. “But this was close to home (Drexel Hill), close to work. And with the qualifying at Overbrook, I figured I might as well give it a shot.”

McDermott was right to pay attention to what Thompson was doing at Overbrook. The old guy threw a 1-under 69 on the board to easily make match play. McDermott had his best round ever at Overbrook, a 1-over 71 that earned him the qualifying medal following a brilliant 5-under 66 at White Manor. McDermott would have been even better at Overbrook had his approach at the 14th hole not landed square on a greenside sprinkler head and bounced clear off the golf course.

Thompson got into the U.S. Senior Amateur last fall at the Wade Hampton G.C. in Cashiers, N.C., and made a really nice run to the quarterfinals, where he ran into Chip Lutz, who has been GAP’s Senior Player of the Year for the last five years, usually being chased by Thompson for that honor. Lutz, who has twice won the British Senior Amateur championship and played in the British Senior Open, beat Thompson that day, but Thompson gained a ton of confidence and a return trip to this year’s U.S. Amateur championship, which will be played in September at Big Canyon C.C. in Newport Beach, Calif.

I’m sure some of his beaten opponents at the Philly Am this week would just as soon Thompson go pick on players his own age.

More Philly Am leftovers

So much is going on at a Philly Am qualifying day, you can’t get to all the stories.

Radnor rising senior Paul Yun carded a 71 at Overbook and, after a strong front nine at White Manor, looked like a lock for match play. He struggled on the back nine at White Manor, but still got it in at 77.

That put him in the five-man playoff for the final two spots in match play at 148, but Yun didn’t hang around for the playoff and missed the cut. Yun will certainly be among the more talented players in District One during the scholastic postseason in the fall.

One of Yun’s playing partners in qualifying was Steve Minnick, a Monsignor Bonner All-Delco who is a member at Penn Oaks G.C. Minnick played under Penn Oaks co-owner Harry Hammond at West Chester.

Minnick was in the hunt for a match-play berth after a 73 at Overbrook, but he ran out of gas and shot 86 at White Manor.

“I usually ride (a cart) when I play,” Minnick said. “I can’t remember the last time I walked 18 holes, let alone 36. But I’ve been playing well, so I wanted to give this a shot.”

Another in the near-miss category was Cole Berman, who recently completed his senior year at The Haverford School and was the 2012-13 Daily Times Player of the Year (and a leading candidate to repeat as Player of the Year, a bit of news to be revealed in Wednesday’s paper). Berman, who’s headed to Georgetown, had a 76 at White Manor in the morning and a 73 at Overbrook in the afternoon. His 149 left him one shot out of the playoff the final two match-play berths.

Only two shots separated Team Lange. Chris Lange Jr. had 74s at both his home course at Overbrook and at White Manor and was eliminated in the five-for-two playoff at 148. His dad Chris, like Thompson one of the fine veteran players at Overbrook, had a 76 at White Manor and a 74 on his home track at Overbrook for a 150 total.

Following a 73 on his home course at Overbrook in the morning, Michael Kania had a 78 at White Manor for a 151 total. Somebody pointed out in a tweet to the GAP website that it was the first time in eight years that there wasn’t a Kania in match play at the Philly Am. Michael lost in the final in 2010, and older brother James Jr. fell in the final in 2009.

Proietto goes low at Springfield

Sharon Proietto has been of the top players in the Springfield Women’s Golf Association (SWGA) for years, and last week she showed she hasn’t slowed down a bit.

Proietto fired a 78 during one of the regular SWGA events, the best score in decades in a league that celebrated its golden anniversary in 2013.

Proietto had seven pars and three birdies in her record tour of Springfield Country Club layout. Proietto has been playing with the SWGA’s 18-hole group since 1999.

Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour

The Philadelphia PGA Junior Tour made a couple of stops upstate this week.

Tuesday, Joseph Morganti of Havertown finished second among the nine-holers with a 46 at Woodstone Country Club and Lodge in Danielsville. Morganti was six shots back of Jacob Zeng, who bested the nine-holers with a 40.

In the 16-to-18 division, Luke Nichols of Bryn Mawr finished fifth with an 88, and Jimmy Murray of Springfield was sixth with an 89. Michael Hoare of Mechanicsburg was first in the division with a 75.

In the 16-to-18 girls division, Notre Dame sophomore Gabby Morganti finished sixth with a 107. Michayla Siemion of Pipersville took top honors in the division with an 86.

Monday, the Junior Tour visited Bent Creek C.C. in Lititz and Case Humer of Glen Mills finished second among the nine-holers with a 39, a shot back of the winner, Stephen Lorenzo of Lower Gwynedd. Morganti had another strong showing with a 44 for sixth place, Matthew Knerr of Villanova was 10th with a 50 and Alex Stern of Bryn Mawr was 12th with a 61.

Springfield’s Murray finished in a tie for 21st in the 16-to-18 division with a 93. J.B. Bradbeer of Rosemont topped the division with a 1-over 72.

Anne Curran of Villanova finished second in the girls 13-to-15 division with a 105. Esther Park of Wilmington, Del. was a runaway winner of that division with a 77.

To contact Tom McNichol, email him at tmcnichol@delcotimes.com For more news and views from the world of golf visit his blog, T Mac Tees Off, at delcotimes.com